Visit to Gwanghwamun Sq and glimpse of Park Bo Gum.

It was 28th October and weather was promising. The sun decided to show itself later in the a.m. We slept in because we decided not to head to Seokcho because Dad couldn't get used to the windy roads and long bus ride. Our itinerary has switched and planned to visit King Sejong's statue at Gwanghwamun Square. 

It was 9.30 am and we came down from our hotel towards the Myeongdong subway station. We saw a small crowd tussling near the VPROVE Daily Dermatology store in front of Nature Republic. It's a new skincare brand endorsed by actor Park Bo Gum. There were many security guarding the area and asking the crowd to make way for the moving traffic. A Japanese lady politely asked me who is coming and two Korean girls told her Park Bo Gum is really coming to officiate the store. 

We need not wait for long when a big black van parked straight in front of the cosmetics store and the actor just strutted his way in. Fans cheered as he quickly made a short tour around the store with press busily snapping photographs. We stood outside eager to catch a glimpse of him and surprisingly he stepped out and waved to all of us. Tall, lean and very young looking, Park Bo Gum smiled and stood at the van's side step for some fan service. It was quick but we managed to snap a photo of him smiling to the fans. As we finished watching the drama Moonlight drawn by Clouds, we saw the real actor too! Hah!

 

As for lunch, we headed to the famous Tosokchon Samgyetang shop at Gyeongbokgung area. The restaurant is so packed with tourists from all over the world. It has many types of ginseng chicken soup- the traditional one, black chicken, roast chicken and other dishes. I can bet almost 85% were tourists in the restaurant. It was a torture for my parents to sit cross legged eating samgyetang- uncomfortable, narrow and very packed with visitors. Each samgyetang costs KRW$16,000 and it's only a small bird (a small chook!) so it's manageable to finish the entire bowl without any problem!

After dossing down the ginseng chicken soup, we were sweating as it's hot and packed in the shop. We took the subway to Insadong at Anguk station to look at some traditional handicrafts. For tea, we had traditional snacks such as tteok and persimmon tea punch. The rice cakes were hand made and considered healthy food. They are either citron, red bean, bean powder, mango and sweet potato based. Traditional snacks are not cheap as they are sold individually or in a nicely wrapped box. You can find cheaper rice cakes and songpyeong near the Nakwon alley.